Primary School Breakfast Clubs

Debate between Dave Robertson and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi

Monday 18th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. There needs to be a universal roll-out. All pupils should benefit, but the positive impact on those who currently rely on free school meals cannot be overstated.

Positive effects have been passed on to pupils who do not attend breakfast clubs. Their results have improved because of calmer, more focused classroom environments. The improvements to children’s attainment and morale that have been seen in Wales cannot be ignored.

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. He may not know that I was a teacher for almost seven years in north Birmingham. I used to regularly see 11 and 12-year-old kids coming into school having had no breakfast, and with their lunch for the day being a bag of Haribo sweets and a one litre bottle of energy drink. Unsurprisingly, those kids had a disproportionate number of detentions and behavioural incidents, particularly in the afternoons, when they had a sugar crash. Does my hon. Friend agree that far too often the provision of healthy and nutritious food by breakfast clubs can be overlooked?

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend speaks with a great deal of experience. I am sure the Minister and his team will take the contributions made by hon. Members on board because they are setting out how we will make a positive impact on the lives of those in our communities. That is what we were elected to do, drawing on our various diverse experiences, backgrounds and perspectives.

Breakfast clubs provide further potential benefits. As my hon. Friends have highlighted, a proper sit-down breakfast, among peers, not only allows children to access healthy food, but encourages the building of interpersonal relationships and the progression of social skills—key aspects of a child’s development that are often overlooked in an educational setting. Will the Minister assure me that universal breakfast clubs will not only provide a healthy meal for young children, but also facilitate and encourage development of vital social skills?